California Drought Severity Expected to Increase

Posted on December 15, 2017

Los Angeles Times: "California could be hit with significantly more dangerous and more frequent droughts in the near future as changes in weather patterns triggered by global warming block rainfall from reaching the state, according to new research led by scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory."

"Using complex new modeling, the scientists have found that rapidly melting Arctic sea ice now threatens to diminish precipitation over California by as much as 15% within 20 to 30 years. Such a change would have profound economic impacts in a state where the most recent drought drained several billion dollars out of the economy, severely stressed infrastructure and highlighted how even the state most proactively confronting global warming is not prepared for its fallout."

. . .

“'This is happening very quickly,'” said Noah Diffenbaugh, a climate scientist at Stanford University. “'The change is dramatic, and it is taking place faster than had been projected by climate models.'”